


Leith Strongbark's Very Bad No Good Fourth Year

by peebles25



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Attempt at Humor, Book 3: Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-13
Updated: 2020-12-14
Packaged: 2021-03-11 00:34:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 10,687
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28046268
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/peebles25/pseuds/peebles25
Summary: A self indulgent rewrite of Harry Potter. Less character death, more gay rights, and jokes I find hilarious that will appeal to maybe three other people. Tags will be updated as I go.
Relationships: Harry Potter & Original Female Character(s), Minor or Background Relationship(s), Rubeus Hagrid & Original Female Character(s), Sirius Black & Original Female Character(s)
Kudos: 1





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> this is the first fic ive been brave enough to post in years. it's certainly the longest thing ive ever written. not beta-read because until now I have been Too Shy to let my work see the light of day! sidenote, i dont think the original female characters tag prepares you enough for how many original female characters i made.

Our story begins rather differently than one might expect. With a protagonist such as ours one might think the story would begin the way many heroes stories do: an orphan growing up rather terribly, until suddenly a new world is opened to them and they find themselves not so alone after all. This is not how our story begins for our protagonist at all, for she is not an orphan, and magic doesn't change your life when you have spent all of it surrounded by the stuff. 

Cecilia Zabel Leith Blodwen Strongbark’s story does not begin when she receives a letter of acceptance to Hogwarts nor does it begin with the tragic accident that kills her mother and grandparents when she is only six years old. 

Our story begins on the 1st of August 1993.

It is summer in Venmunds Under Heago, and Leith (the name she prefers out of the many she has) is degnoming a garden rather viciously. She is interrupted in her gallant efforts by a blonde, solemn woman in a grey suit. The woman approaches her and waits until she is finished hurling a gnome over the fence with all her strength.

“Leith. We need to talk.”

The woman is the owner of the garden and the house behind it, Leith’s aunt Maeve. Aunt Maeve uses the same serious tone to ask Leith what colour robes she would like to wear as she would to ask Leith what her thoughts are on the intricacies of the universe, so Leith isn't startled by the severity of her aunt’s gaze or tone.

“Yeah? What about?” Leith asks, picking up another stubborn little bugger as she does so.

“This is important. I'm afraid degnoming will have to wait.” her aunt replies.

Which is enough to give Leith pause, because Maeve hates gnomes in her garden and always seems pleased to find her younger charge taking her emotions out on the pests. 

Leith launches a final gnome with a fierce overarm before following her aunt inside the cottage. For a house belonging to a wizard, it's not particularly magical. In the kitchen/dining room Leith’s cousin Celestine is draped over a dining chair eating chips and flipping through the Daily Prophet. He's on a break from stupid french uni. She calls it stupid french uni to spite him.

He retreats when he sees his aunt and cousin approaching, but not before tossing a crisp at Leith’s head. She catches it when it rebounds off her forehead and throws it back at him. He eats it.

Maeve rolls her eyes and sits down, Leith does the same and raises a questioning eyebrow. Celestine left the cover page of the Prophet on the table. There's a rather sick looking man on the cover, with the headline _“Sirius Black Escapes Azkaban!”_ and Leith wonders if that's what this is about.

“Sirius Black has escaped from Azkaban.” Maeve sighs.

“Huh. Anyone know how?” Leith asks as she fidgets with the hem of her shorts.

“Nobody knows how. People say he's after Harry Potter.” 

Leith feels a pang of concern. She's not exactly close with the boy but she's brutally injured him in Quidditch often enough to build a casual friendship, and trouble seems to follow him like a bad smell.

“Apparently to keep the boy and everyone else at Hogwarts safe there are going to be dementors dispatched around the grounds.” her aunt continues.

Dementors. Leith went through a phase of studying them when she was 10. This doesn't bode well for the general safety of students.

“Alright. Is that all you wanted to talk about, dearest auntie of mine?” Leith says as she starts to stand. “There’s some Transfiguration homework I should really start.”

“Hold on dear, there’s still more.” Maeve replies.

_Aunt Maeve looks tired_ , Leith thinks as the wizard runs her fingers through her short blonde hair. _Maybe she has something_ _really_ _important to say now._

There are some people who find it hard to share secrets. Some people even find that the longer they keep a secret, the easier it is to forget about and the harder it is to tell.

Lady Idonea Maeve Lydia Xanthippe Strongbark is one such person, and has been keeping a rather big secret for nearly 14 years.

“Did Felicita ever tell you anything about your father?” Maeve inquires.

Leith, in fact, does not know much about her father. She knows he wasn't a part of her life before her mother Felicita died, she knows she must take after him in looks for she looks nothing like her family except for her crooked pinky fingers and prominent Strongbark chin, and she knows nobody else particularly wants to talk about him. The question throws her rather off guard.

Leith answers, “Not much about him.” 

Maeve puts a hand on Leith's and meets her gaze.

“There's a reason for that. We probably should have told you from the beginning, and I certainly should have told you sooner.” Maeve says regretfully.

“Who is he?”

She feels a slight sense of dread, when she asks this. As if she can never go back once she hears the answer. 

“Leith. I think you know.” 

The man on the cover of the Prophet stares at her. She doesn't want to think about how she recognises his eyes. Sees them in the mirror every day (or one of them, at least). He looks like a _nightmare_ . ( _Leith_ looks like a nightmare. Context clues are piling up in her head.)

“Who. _Is he_?”

“Leith. You know.”

Leith isn't _scared_ often, everyone always jokes that she's the most Gryffindor wizard in Ravenclaw. She's scared _now_ , though, she's even crying. What the fuck, she's _crying_?

“Maybe I’d like to hear you say it.” her voice breaks.

“.... Leith. You have to know he was a very charismatic man before.” (And she does know, she knows everything about it. She went through a phase on the war when she was 8 and Celestine was studying it in Stupid French School (Histoire de Sorcière) ‘cause she was terrified You-Know-Who was going to kill her in the night. It fits, when she thinks about it. She doesn't want to think about it.) “He shocked everyone when he turned. Your mother didn't know, and by the time she knew you were two years old and nothing could stop her from loving you, dear.” Maeve smiles, gently.

Leith notes that: Maeve is teary-eyed as well now, and she still is yet to say it out loud.

“Leith Strongbark, you are a wonderful girl. This doesn't change a thing about you. Sirius Black has always been your father, and your mother always knew that and it didn't stop her loving you. And it hasn't stopped me loving you either.” Maeve declares, moving her free hand to brush away the tears trickling down Leith’s face. 

Leith makes a split second decision to stand up and throw her arms around Maeve. Her aunt’s shock is evident in the moments before Maeve hesitantly returns the hug the crying teenager is giving her. They haven't hugged in a long time.

“I don't think I tell you that enough. I love you, Leith. Of course I love you. You're Felicita’s daughter, there isn't much you could ever do to stop me from loving you.” 

Leith, who has been doing her best not to cry, starts sobbing into her aunt’s pristine grey suit jacket. Maeve really isn't helping her stay the usual level of cool and aloof people expect from Leith.

“I- love you- too, aunt Maev-ve” she sobs, slightly muffled.

In this abhorrent moment of vulnerability that Leith promises herself to _never_ think about again a silly thought strikes her. 

Growing up she always made up ideas about what kind of person her father would be, and in each and every one he was a loving father who'd come to take her away and spoil her (Maeve hasn't always been good with Leith. In the fantasies her father always is) and now she knows that her father is a murderer who’s escaped from prison. 

And this is the silly part of the thought: _he didn't even escape for her_. He's escaped to kill the boy she sends tumbling off a broom at every opportunity. Soon Leith will be able to find the humor in it. 

For now, though, she just wants to keep crying.


	2. New Cat and New Professor

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> More in depth character introductions, Diagon Alley, and the Hogwarts Express!

Our story begins with our protagonist finding out that her absent father is an escaped murderer who joined forces with a dark wizard who murdered his best friend, and that is a good place for the story to begin. 

But to  _ understand _ our protagonist, you must first understand the way she grew up.

The Strongbarks had always been a small family. Lady Fairuza Strongbark, Leith’s grandmother, strived to make her children’s generation an exception. Time and Voldemort whittled a steadily growing family down to almost nothing. 

Leith remembers just enough about her mother to miss her sometimes, and Celestine remembers nothing about his own mother Kallistrae but everything about their grandparents, and still misses them a great deal. He was twelve when Torkel, Fairuza, and Felicita died. Leith was only six.

The two cousins went to live with their only living relative, their aunt Maeve. Maeve is not by any means a bad guardian. She feeds them, clothes them, and has never mistreated them. 

However, the absence of cruelty does not make a good parent. 

Leith thinks of it this way: Maeve was not interested in children. Having two that she only interacted with via Christmas cards and birthday gifts show up into her rather busy lifestyle was a shock to her carefully crafted system, and taking care of two children you don't know while grieving the loss of both your parents and your only living sister on top of brewing potions for a living was not a task Maeve was fully prepared for. 

And here is the truth Leith doesn't know: 

Maeve is a wizard who has tried her best to entrench herself in muggle society to stay far away from the war, but in erasing her wizard identity she also had to erase her identity as a gay woman. She barely talked to her family anymore because she was still angry that her sister got pregnant with mass murderer’s baby (even though she knows Felicita didn't  _ know _ , she had no WAY of knowing and even if he hadn't been a murderer Felicita didn't want to raise the kid with him anyway) but Maeve still sent everyone gifts on their birthdays and Christmases but she was repressed and she was lonely. And then suddenly the family she wasn't in contact with was completely decimated in a fire and she had to take care of her sisters’ kids and she didn't know HOW and she argues with the younger one because she reminds Maeve of her youngest deceased sister, Zipporah who all but disappeared (but also of herself) and so she argued with Leith because she couldn't deal with it.

Celestine was almost old enough to handle himself, but Leith  _ needed _ her. Maeve had not been needed, by anyone in her life before. She'd held responsibilities before, but she had always been replaceable. There had always been someone else competent to take over if she was in too deep.

Now Maeve had nobody. She was the last of her sisters, her parents had died, she didn't have a partner, it was just her and children that she didn't  _ like _ by any means, but she would care for regardless. 

It was not an unhappy childhood, but it was not a happy one either. Leith went from her mother's unconditional love and laughter to awkward silences and stilted discourse _. _ Not a dark childhood, but a solitary grey.

(Leith has spent a great deal of effort convincing herself it was fine, but really, it wasn't. She wasn’t  _ abused _ , but she wasn't cared for, and that in itself is enough for anyone else to realise it  _ wasn't  _ fine)

For Leith, Celestine was a glaring light in the grey. Holidays and summers were Leith's favourite because it meant accidentally sending a pillow flying into her cousins head and him laughing instead of sternly telling her to apologise, it meant having  _ someone _ to talk to when Maeve was off for hours in her potions lab and it meant she wasn't as lonely in that too-quiet house.

Leith and Maeve became exponentially better with each other when Leith started at Hogwarts. Moments that used to be filled with cold glares and irritated sighs are now times when Maeve asks about her house (Ravenclaw), her lessons, and Leith's friends (all of whom are as strange as Leith. Maeve would be surprised otherwise.) and Leith is beginning to get better at answering. Maeve still sighs, but they're sighs of affection now.

Maeve is still not a  _ good _ parent and she knows it, but she's getting better at it. She's there at Hogwarts in Leith’s first year when a flying class goes terribly wrong and her niece is left missing an eye, and Madam Pomfrey is telling Maeve about where to acquire enchanted prosthetics. (Leith is becoming quite a sight, with her mane of dark hair, one brown eye and the other an opal prosthetic) (“An opal eye!” she cries, “Aunt Maeve it's just like the dragon!” and that's the first time Maeve feels more than just an  _ obligation  _ to keep her niece safe. She wants to take the girl into a blanket and wrap her up safely away from the dangers of the world and the intensity of the warmth she feels for the messy child holding her hand almost crushes her)

Another defining moment in the building of their relationship, a relationship that took Maeve six years to even understand how to build, is in her second year when Leith becomes a beater on the Ravenclaw Quidditch team. Maeve attends every match. She sits there in the stands in her muggle suits and applauds the Ravenclaw team, and carefully ignores Severus Snape, the little bastard. (Maeve wanted the position of potions master at Hogwarts and strongly believes if it wasn't for Dumbledore’s favouritism towards the man it would be  _ hers _ , but that's another story.) Leith still looks thrilled to see her there.

They have a rough start, and they're far from perfect, but they make it work.

  
  
  


***

There are two cats in The Magical Menagerie that Leith wants. One is ginger, fluffy, looks as if it's had its face mashed in, and grumpy. The other is huge, white, and looks like the most majestic but also stupidest thing she's ever seen, like if she asked it a question she'd get a very wise reply (but if she actually asked it a question it would meow and continue to chase its own tail like a dog. Which is what it's doing right now)

The issue here is: Leith is only allowed  _ one _ animal. The big white cat stops chasing and meows. It then starts licking its belly. The orange one looks at her cousin (who is here to pay for the animal, but mainly to restrain her from buying every animal in stock) disdainfully. 

“Cel. I can’t choose.” she says.

“Sure you can.” he says, “pick the one that makes you look crazier. Isn't that how you choose everything?”

Leith would be insulted if he wasn't right. She stares up at the orange cat that's sitting on top of a shelf. She stares at the white cat, that's taking up an entire corner of a shelf with its cage. 

“I think I want the white one.” she mumbles reluctantly.

“Great! Let's buy it then.”

“But what about the orange one? He’s been here long enough they've  _ named _ him and look at him! He’s lovely.”

“It is  _ not. _ You have horrible taste.”

_ He IS lovely, _ Leith thinks,  _ he’s got CHARACTER. _

“Rude!  _ Anyway _ , I'd feel terrible leaving him here. What if nobody ever buys him? I can't choose! Please, what if  _ you _ buy Crookshanks and just send him to Hogwarts!” she pleads.

“And what if I buy neither and we go home?”

Leith pouts, and Celestine knows in his heart she's going to be pouting every time he sees her for the next  _ year _ if he doesn't do something.

“Tell you what. If you get the white one, I'll come back here when Hogwarts is back and school shopping is over. Some kid might just buy Crookshanks in the meantime, but if he's still here I'll get him for you.” he says, putting a comforting hand on her shoulder.

And with that her pout becomes a smile. Celestine has always been good at appeasing her.

The witch at the counter smiles and brings the enormous white cat over when they ask.

“A lovely choice! This one's a bit strange, but he's a loving cat. What are you naming him?” the witch asks.

“I've picked Galahad.” Leith beams.

“Galahad! How heroic. That’s 13 galleons.”

Celestine hands the gold over, and Leith is the very happy owner of a new cat.

Galahad immediately endears himself to Leith by constantly trying to get her to carry him. She already operates on a constant level of looking mildly ridiculous wherever she goes, and having a cat as big as most dogs try to climb her every time she stands still adds to that.

She gives in. He’s heavy, and he puts two massive kitty paws onto her shoulders and this might not be a strange sight in Diagon Alley, but she can't imagine how downright silly this will be in Muggle London. 

When they meet Maeve in the Leaky Cauldron she takes a look at the sight of Leith carrying the Maine Coon like he is a curious toddler, and sighs.

“You couldn't have gotten anything smaller than this?” she asks

“Nope! It had to be him.” Leith replies.

And it is at this point Galahad removes himself from Leith’s arms (none too gracefully by the way, Leith doesn't understand he wants to get down and he's nearly pressed his big rear end into her face before she remembers  _ oh, right, you can just drop cats _ ) 

The reason Galahad has found this new sense of purpose is Harry Potter. He’s at the bottom of the stairs when the cat reaches him and starts rubbing its big face all over his knees. 

There is a lot she wants to say to Harry (like “Sorry my dad escaped prison to try to kill you!” and “I’m sorry you always look so skinny at the end of summer.” or “You're remarkably easy to injure and it makes me sad.” and “Are you here alone? Where's your family? Are you okay?”) but batting bludgers at someone and buying them chocolate frogs to apologise when they end up in the Hospital Wing only gets you so far in a friendship. 

“Harry! I see my new cat likes you.” she grins

He looks up and grins back.

Harry says, “Hi Leith. Back to school shopping?” 

And Leith replies, “Yep! I'm here with my aunt and my cousin. We just finished buying all my supplies.”

She gestures to the two, and Harry waves politely. 

He asks “Have you seen the new Firebolt at Quality Quidditch Supplies?”, Which makes Leith light up like a Christmas tree. 

“I haven't had a chance! They have a Firebolt on DISPLAY?” she exclaims, “Harry. We are going there right now.” 

And after Leith runs back to her aunt to ask if she could please, stay a  _ bit _ longer so Harry can show her “the FIREBOLT!!” that is exactly what they do. Galahad appears to have given up on walking, and is now lying at Maeve’s feet as she gives him bits of chicken. She wasn't so hard to win over after all.

(Leith notices Harry’s surprise that her aunt said yes. She wonders what his family is like.) 

The Firebolt is  _ exquisite. _ Leith is already formulating about nine plans to convince Maeve that it's absolutely necessary to buy one for her next birthday.

She looks at Harry, and she grins. Leith has a certain grin when she's very excited about something, a rather unhinged grin that only comes out when she is well and truly ecstatic. 

She nudges Harry gently and says, “You know, if I end up getting one of these somehow? I'm gonna get two. So I can give you one. It'll give you a fighting chance when I send bludgers at you, right?”

He rolls his eyes. “Are you ever going to target someone  _ else _ on the Gryffindor team?”

“Sure.” she chuckles, “When they get a player who's more of a threat than you, my dear friend. Besides, what would you even do against Ravenclaw if I wasn't always there to bring the fun?”

“I'd probably have a few less broken bones.”

“And where's the fun in that?”

***

They spend another five minutes staring longingly at the Firebolt before they both start walking back to the Leaky Cauldron, and it's during this walk Leith finally gets the courage to ask Harry a question.

“Is there a reason you're here, Harry?” she asks carefully.

“What’d you mean?”

“I mean most kids are with their families during the summer. Why are you staying at the Leaky Cauldron on your own?”

He pauses, and looks like he's wondering how to answer, but he tells her, “I accidentally blew up my aunt. Then ran away ‘cause I thought I'd be expelled.”

Leith groans sympathetically.

“I did the same to my aunt when I was ten.” she admits, “She was yelling at me something fierce for something completely unimportant, and I just got so angry and I wanted her to stop talking. Suddenly she was bouncing around on the ceiling!” 

Harry snorted, “Really?”

“Yeah! She had to be punctured and everything. I was so scared they weren't even gonna let me into Hogwarts.” 

(Maeve gave her the cold shoulder for a week until she apologised.) 

They both laugh and walk along in silence. 

“Hey, Harry?” she asks

“Yeah?”

“If you ever  _ actually _ get expelled, and you're on the run from the ministry, you can come hide out at my place. My aunt wouldn't even care as long as you helped degnome the garden every so often.”

Harry snorts, but looks genuinely pleased to hear that. “Thanks. I'll keep it in mind next time I blow up mine.” 

***

And then all of a sudden, a new school year begins. Celestine is back at stupid french uni learning stupid french things, and Leith is in Maeve's muggle car parked outside King's Cross. 

“Leith, one second before we go?”

She pauses with her hand on the door, and says “Yeah?”

“If Sirius Black  _ does _ get into Hogwarts- which he  _ might _ , Merlin knows if he can escape Azkaban he can break into Hogwarts -Remember that he might not know he even has a daughter. Felicita was adamant she was going to raise you alone.”

Leith rolls her eyes,“Well damn, there go all my plans to tell everybody and face the suspicion of literally everyone!” 

Maeve actually laughs. It's a sharp bark of a laugh, but it's still a laugh. 

They get her trunk and her large cat, and make their way together to platform 9 ¾. (Maeve doesn't say what she really meant, which was “Leith, for the love of god don't make yourself a target for him when he doesn't even know he has a child. Who knows what the hell Black would be capable of if he had a daughter he thought he could brainwash”)

It's 9am and an empty compartment is easy to find. Maeve says goodbye and leaves, and for a moment Leith basks in the feeling of being on the Hogwarts Express. She loves the bloody thing, several hour long journey and all.

Soon enough time passes. The train starts to fill up, most people avoiding her compartment when they see the crazy eyed Ravenclaw girl in it, now with the added bonus of an absurdly big cat. She loves Galahad more and more every day.

Its a group of three little firsties that brave it, just before the train is about to leave. One boy with bright eyes asks her “Uhm, is it alright if we? Sit here??” 

She nods, and as they all sit the train begins to move. Leith has to applaud the fact none of the kids flinch when they see her prosthetic eyeball. She bets at least one will be a new Gryffindor.

If she was better at socialising Leith would probably say something to these kids, but fortunately they seem content to talk amongst themselves. Until they get onto the topic of the Sorting.

The boy with the bright eyes says his dad told him they have to do quests, while the little dark skinned girl with a big afro says her mother tried to convince her “you sit a test and they sort you based off how much you know!” 

She can't let them suffer in ignorance like this, she's a Ravenclaw. So she says, “It's a hat, guys. You put a talking hat on, it looks at your thoughts, and puts you in the right house.” 

Two of them look relieved, while the third (a very pale brown haired freckled girl with comically large glasses) looks terrified. 

“What if it gets it wrong?” she asks

Leith thinks for a moment, and replies “I don't think it really does get it wrong. You might think you've been put in the wrong house, but everyone I know who's thought that doesn't seem to notice how well they fit. But apparently if there's a house you  _ really  _ don't want to be in, the Hat takes that onboard.”

All three look appeased, by this. 

“What house are you in?” asks the girl with the afro.

“Ravenclaw, I'm Leith, by the way. If any of you become Ravenclaws I’ll be delighted to help you study History of Magic. And you will need help, the teacher's a right bore.” 

Afro kid nods. 

“That sounds cool. I’m Sloane. This is Derek,” she gestures to the bright eyed boy, “and Audrey.” she nods at the girl in the glasses.

And Leith thinks maybe that's the end of it, but then Audrey asks her, “How’d you lose your eye?”

“First year flying class. I didn't listen to Madam Hooch when I should have.”

And they all look positively  _ gobsmacked _ by that, as firsties often are. This is the rare occasion where the truth gets a funnier reaction than a fantastical lie.

***

It's a very chaotic scene when a dementor causes Harry to pass out on the Hogwarts Express. There are many reasons for this.

Our protagonist, dear readers, is a very heavy sleeper. She can find it in herself to sleep in the most strenuous of circumstances. So when she is done talking to the new first years and she has tuned them out completely, Leith does was she always does when she is alone with her thoughts. She falls asleep. Galahad, the champion he is, is proving to be quite a lazy cat who doesn't mind the two hours she spends petting him in her sleep.

Leith wakes up from a nap she didn't realise she was having, when the door to the compartment is shut rather loudly. She sits up, which startles Galahad off her lap. Blearily she becomes aware of her surroundings. She very much feels like going back to sleep, only the conversation between Derek and Audrey is too loud, and Galahad is bumping her leg with his head.

“Whtimesit” she asks, ever so eloquently.

Derek replies “It's 12:23” and Leith decides it's time to leave. 

So she stands, and leaves the compartment in hopes of finding a quieter spot. After a few minutes of searching she spots Harry and his two friends, and in the window seat there is a sleeping man. Well. If it's quiet enough for him it's quiet enough for her. She opens the door and mutters “wake me up when the candy trolley gets here” and deftly falls right back into sleep as soon as she sits down.

When she wakes up properly it's to Ron elbowing her because it's one in the afternoon and the trolley lady has arrived. And after Hermione confirms the sleeping man is still breathing, it's not until Leith is on her third pumpkin pasty she notices the very familiar cat.

“Crookshanks?” she asks

Crookshanks meows as if he's trying to say hello.

Hermione frowns at her. “How do you know my cat’s name?” 

“Saw him in the shop. I made my cousin promise if nobody’d got him after school started he’d buy him for me ‘cause I could barely decide between him and Galahad.” she replies, pointing to Galahad (who is sitting on top of somebody's trunk), “I'm glad to see someone liked him as much as I did!”

Hermione looks ecstatic, but Ron seems vaguely uncomfortable with this line of conversation. Leith tactfully turns her attention elsewhere. 

Mid afternoon when it starts raining Malfoy and his goons turn up briefly, but are frightened off by the presence of the Professor (who she now knows is called Professor Lupin, which Leith thinks is a  _ very _ cool name, by the way. She’d love to be called Professor Wolf.) 

The rain gets so thick that the lanterns turn on, and Leith feels a growing sense of kinship with the unconscious man sitting across from her. Not many people can sleep through weather like this. 

“We must be nearly there.” Rom comments.

And just like that, the train begins to slow. 

“Brilliant.” he says, peering around Lupin’s head. “I’m starving. I want to go to the feast.”

“Hear, hear.” Leith mutters.

“We can’t be there yet.” says Hermione, checking her watch. “So why are we stopping?”

The train continues to slow, and Harry sticks his head out the compartment door to see what's going on.

The train jolts to a stop, and suddenly the lanterns all go out, and now they're in complete darkness. 

“What's going on?” says Ron. It sounds like he's standing up too, now.

“Ouch! Ron, that was my foot.” 

Leith heard one of them sit down again.

“Have we broken down or something?” she asks.

“Dunno…”

Leith saw the vague outline of Ron looking out the window, and leaned into it as well to see if they could find anything.

There were figures, moving towards the train.

“There's something moving out there.” Ron says. “I think people are coming aboard-” the compartment door opens, and it sounds like someone falls over. 

A gentle voice says “Sorry! D’you know what's going on? Ow, sorry!”

“Hello, Neville.” she hears Harry say.

“Harry? Is that you? What's happening?”

“No idea! Sit down-” there’s a hiss, and a yelp. Has Neville sat on Crookshanks?

“I'm going to go and ask the driver what's going on.” says Hermione. 

Leith hears the door open again, and two more yelps. This darkness is getting old, fast.

“Who's that?”

“Who’s  _ that? _ ” 

“Ginny?”

“Hermione?”

“What are you doing here?”

“I came to find Ron-”

“Hey, come sit down.” Leith offers a hand out into the dark for Ginny, “Careful, there's not much room.” 

“Not here!” says Harry, “I'm here!”

“Ouch!” says Neville.

And then a very hoarse voice says “Quiet!” 

Professor Lupin must be awake. Leith takes the brief silence to help Ginny sit down. She hopes the kid doesn't mind having to cram next to her.

Lupin, now with a flickering light floating at the end of his wand, looks wide awake now.

“Stay where you are.” he says. They all listen.

But just as he gets to his feet, the compartment door opens a third time and Leith can feel her stomach drop dramatically.

**_Fucking_** _dementors,_ Merlin’s saggy left **_ballsack_**. Instinctively her arm goes around Ginny to pull her closer. 

It's worse,  _ much _ worse, than anything Leith read about as a child. The cloaked figure is positively  _ horrifying  _ and oh, oh  _ god _ what if they're after Sirius Black and they just find  _ Leith _ instead- 

(and during this she's reliving her worst memory: Mum.  _ “Celestine, you need to take Leith and go.” There's so much smoke. “Aunt Felicita-!” She’s scared, she doesn't want to let go of Mum- “I have to get your grandparents out, now GO!” Leith tries to follow her but Celestine’s grip is strong. They cry into each other's shoulders like that for hours. Grandma and Grandpa don't come back. Neither does Mum. _ ) 

And something's _happening_ to Harry. Ginny as well, to a lesser extent. Ginny is shaking and Harry’s fallen out of his seat and looks like he’s having a bloody seizure over there. 

Then Professor Lupin steps over Harry, and he says “None of us are hiding Sirius Black under our cloaks. Go.” and then mutters something and a jet of silvery light slams into the dementor’s chest. 

And it turns around, then glides off. Ginny is shaking like a leaf, and Leith tries to comfort her as best she can. (she forgot, that it was Ginny in the chamber last year. Poor girl has every right to be this shaken.) 

Soon the lights come on, and Harry is roused and lifted back into his seat. 

“Ginny. You're okay now.” she says gently. 

Ginny wraps her arms around Leith, and gives a silent sob into her shoulder.

Everyone looks up when Lupin snaps some chocolate into pieces and hands a large chunk to Harry. (good, Leith was worried she might have to dissect a chocolate frog for everyone) 

“Eat. It’ll help.” he says

“What was that?” asks Harry, looking dumbfounded at the chocolate in his hand. 

“A Dementor.” says Lupin, handing other pieces out to everybody. “One of the Dementors of Azkaban.” 

Professor Lupin crumples up the now empty foil and declares he is going to talk to the driver, now. Leith scarfs her chocolate immediately, and feels happier.

Harry asks about what happened, and as Ron and Hermione begin to tell him Leith realises she might have been the only ten year old who fixated on learning all about prison systems (wizarding AND muggle) and devoured every inch of knowledge on Dementors since. (fair enough, it's quite a specific scenario.) 

“Dementors make you relive your worst memory.” she starts, her voice shaky. “So if you heard someone screaming, that's why. Also. The Professor is right. Chocolate does help.” 

But nobody really listens until Lupin comes back.

He smiles and says “I haven't poisoned the chocolate, you know…”

“I told them you were right that it helps, Professor. I think everyone's still a little shaken up.” says Leith.

And Lupin looks at her for what might be the first time and for a millisecond he looks very startled. Then, his expression returns to that of a small smile. Her prosthetic eye has a tendency to elicit that reaction.

(Leith doesn't know that when he looked at her he was remembering another fourth year many years ago. There's no handy list of “people who knew Black and might definitely see you're related” for her to study and prepare for.)

In the quiet, all of a sudden, she remembers the three first years. Fuck. Maybe she will have to dissect a chocolate frog after all.

“There were some first years I met earlier. I should go check they’re all right. See you all at the feast, yeah?”

Everyone replies with a quick goodbye. Leith and Ginny both stand, and Ginny takes the now empty seat.

There are fewer students running up and down the train now, and in fact none of the students Leith sees seem to be in the mood for running anymore. She thinks it's because even the kids who probably didn't have a Dementor come poking around their compartment will be feeling a little more somber now.

And after checking and making sure that yes, those first years fine, a Prefect is with them, (Sloan notices Leith and waves. She waves back.) and Leith sees one of her best friends in the world, sticking her tangled mane of turquoise hair out of a far off compartment: Estrie Oakthorne.

Estrie has evidently seen her already because she is beaming, and beckoning very frantically at Leith. As she begins to walk over to Estrie, she thinks if someone asked her who she thought would be able to bounce back the fastest after a Dementor encounter she would only ever guess Estrie. 

Which isn't a commentary on the Hufflepuff’s demeanour. Leith thinks this because while Estrie’s father is a completely respectable wizard, her mother is a vampire and anyone who knows  _ anything _ about vampires knows creatures like Dementors don't affect vampires as harshly. 

Our dear Leith is only slightly aware that she is an outlier, with her desire to know everything about Dementors when she is ten and scared to death of the damned things, and the way that when she is twelve years old she finds everything she can about vampires because her new friend is half-a-vampire and she needs to know as much of the facts as possible and it's all _so_ _interesting_ because some experts think vampires don’t react the same to Dementors because vampires don't have SOULS,

(Leith feels so strongly that it  _ has _ to be wrong, when she is twelve and Estrie is eleven and the first peer that's not put off by Leith’s constant frenzy to learn every obscure and devastatingly weird spell there is to know. Estrie thinks its funny when Leith curls her own nose hairs and  _ anyway _ , she's only  _ half _ vampire and you can't be born with  _ half _ a soul.)

(And years later, when Leith hears Estrie read the letters her mother has sent she doesn't believe that woman doesn't have a soul either. It's just effective propaganda.)

Leith then finds herself being pulled by Estrie’s bony hands into a seat directly across from her other best friend, Mango Potts. Mango is like the rope that holds their group down to earth. The glue that keeps them from falling to pieces and those pieces from drifting away. The branches holding onto dirigible plums. The stuff they put around hay bales to stop bits of hay getting blown around in the wind. Leith admits, this analogy may have gotten away from her. 

Anyway. Mango, despite having the silliest name out of the three, is by far the most normal by their standards. Unlike Estrie she has no secret creature mother, and unlike Leith she doesn't have a criminal father. The strangest thing about Mango are her eyes. They lack pupils, and her irises and sclera are in a constant shift of colour on account of the girl’s heavily impaired vision. 

“Leith. It's nice to see you again.” Mango murmurs.

Mango looks awful. Probably just as awful as Leith did before she had the chocolate from Professor Lupin.

“Great to see you too Mango. Would either of you care for a chocolate frog in this trying time?” she replies, fishing two half melted chocolate frogs whos enchantments have long worn off since she bought them and tossing both at the girls in front of her. 

Because Leith isn't an inconsiderate shithead the one she tosses to Mango lands in her lap, but because Leith also has a sense of humour Estrie's frog hits her on the side of her head, eliciting an undignified yelp and two pink eyes glaring at her.

Mango tears into hers and hands the card to Leith.

“What's it say?” she asks through a mouthful of chocolate.

Leith holds up the card and reads.

“Bridget Wenlock, 1202–1285. A famous Arithmancer, Bridget Wenlock was the first to establish the magical properties of the number seven.”

“Cool. D’you want that one?” Mango asks Estrie, because she's the collector of the three. 

She pockets the Wenlock card and opens up her own, and groans. “Mungo  _ again. _ ”

“Again?” Mango chirps, already looking better “Isn't that your twelfth Mungo?” 

“It is! I swear the bloody things sense me coming and turn into Mungo cards just to spite me.” 

Leith just rolls her eyes and picks up Galahad (who has dug his claws into an empty seat). She's getting better at it now she's used to the huge cat. He meows indignantly as she removes him. 

“Merlin, where'd you find that lynx?” Estrie asks just as Mango hollers “LEITH! You got a cat and you didn't TELL us?”

Leith laughs when Mango coos over her giant cat, who is rubbing his cheeks all over Mango’s outstretched hand. 

“His name is Galahad and I would fistfight Merlin himself for this cat.” 

“I'd like to see that. I think you'd have a decent advantage over Merlin in a Muggle fight.” Estrie jokes.

Soon after Galahad situates himself on Mango’s lap, (he’s so big he can't entirely lie down on her so his head is resting on her chest) Mango turns again to Leith.

“Alright, I know you wanna ask. Go on, then!”

Leith’s manic grin emerges. This is why her friends are the greatest.

“What does a Dementor’s magical energy  _ look like _ !” Leith asks, extending the “i” in like so it sounds more like ‘ _ liiiiiiike!’ _

She asks this because while Mango cannot see the way most people do, she can see magical energy quite well. 

She says most creatures have a colour that signifies what they are. Wizards and their familiars are purple, house elves are “a lovely shade of blue”, and the invisible creatures that pull the carriages are a “somber green”. Ghosts are the one thing entirely visible to Mango, which for years has interested Leith to no end.

(Although she's not entirely certain the Slytherin is always a reliable source. Leith somehow doubts the giant squid in the Great Lake is “piss yellow”)

“They're pretty horrible to look at. It was like… I was looking at something so terribly sad I couldn't even understand it.” Mango shifts, “The one I saw didn't even really have a  _ colour _ , it just had  _ sorrow. _ ” she shivers, and looks like she is deeply lost in thought. 

Galahad breaks the grim silence that's fallen over the three of them, by purring and rubbing his cheeks on Mango’s hand again. She seems to appreciate the gesture and buries her face in Galahad’s neck before emerging once more with her nose scrunched, complaining about the cat's smell.

And after what seems to be only minutes the Hogwarts Express has is slowing down, for real this time. They're here, finally. Hogwarts Awaits.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Leith is very much neurodivergent, i genuinely find it hard to make characters who Aren't, and i hope its relatively clear she has a lot of special interests/hyperfixations


	3. The Flobberworms

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mango gets a migraine, and Leith makes a new friend or two.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> if youre wondering "how does leith know so much about muggle pop culture" my answer is maeve has been doing an arthur weasley and incorporates muggle appliances into her household. also its my fic and im allowed to make as many star trek references as i want

For Leith and her friends everything about the start of the year is much the same. Dumbledore gives warnings about Dementors, first years are sorted. Derek and Audrey are both Ravenclaws but Sloane is sorted into Gryffindor. Then the night ends and school begins once more. 

Sirius Black does not materialise in the middle of Charms class like half of her classmates expect, and while she liked Kettleburn last year Hagrid quickly becomes Leith’s favourite teacher of all time. Despite the fact that nothing has been  _ quite _ as fun as the Care of Magical Creatures lesson on the first Thursday back, (Leith metaphorically curses that little Malfoy shite to hell and back for that, that morning she discovered Hippogriffs were her new favourite animal of all time.)

(Leith discovers an animal that becomes her New Favourite Animal Of All Time every three weeks, it's a side effect of being sort of friends with Luna Lovegood who tells Leith about the  _ coolest _ creatures.) 

But anyway. Leith finds herself visiting Hagrid in his big hut quite often. The huge man seems to enjoy the company and Leith completely understands this man and his urge to procure illegal animals. 

Charlie Weasley, who became her friend in her first year when she heard him in the library talking to two highly disinterested seventh years about Opaleye dragons, which was Leith’s Favourite Animal Of All Time that week because of her first prosthetic eye, sent her a letter telling her about Norbert.

(Charlie was a little surprised that day when a very short and VERY intense first year approached him when he was rambling about the Antipodean Opaleye’s eating habits that had driven the Moa AND the Haast’s Eagle to extinction. She walked right up to him, with her very own opal eye, and asked very politely if he would tell her everything he knew about the dragon. Tonks and Rogmonde were relieved he’d found someone who would happily listen to him excitedly tell them something he'd already told them many,  _ many _ times before.) 

When Leith was smaller she was always too scared of Hagrid to come visit him, even when she heard from multiple sources he was the definition of gentle giant.  _ Well, _ she thinks one day while helping him garden,  _ I've never been more gladly proven the fool _ . 

Even the flobberworms bring Leith a sense of joy. They don't do much. Just sort of… flobber. But when Estrie and Mango are busy Leith often finds herself down at Hagrid’s hut watching them flobber. She even thinks she's beginning to tell them apart, and names her favourite one Dax. After Jadzia Dax from Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. Leith is 75% sure none of her friends will get why that's hilarious. She’s also sure that nobody else gets how she can possibly enjoy the big worms.

“They remind me of Tardigrades!” she says when questioned on  _ why _ she likes them.

“I don't even want to know what that is.” Estrie grumbles, lifting her head to glare at her. She’s lying down on her chair with her head on Mango’s lap and her legs draped across Leith’s. They're lucky Madam Pince leaves them alone mostly, because they aren't renowned trouble makers or book destroyers. 

“They're microscopic kind of chubby looking things with eight legs, they float around in water and they can survive pretty much anywhere.” Mango replies.

“How do you know that?” Leith asks while Estrie asks “What's microscopic mean then?”

Mango shrugged, “My dads like them. Call ‘em moss piglets. And it means it's so small you can't even see it.”

Estrie snorts. “You're trying to tell me there's an entire species of invisible chubby worms with legs that's completely indestructible? Have you been spending time with Luna lately?” 

“If we had a microscope nearby you would be eating those words, Ess.” Leith proclaims. “But Mango, if you remember what they look like you'll agree when I say a flobberworm, which is just a big legless tardigrade, is cute?”

Mango furrows her brow for a moment. “I wouldn't say  _ cute _ . Endearing, maybe.”

“Estrie you're officially outnumbered and outvoted, you are now the only one who thinks flobberworms are disgusting.”

“That's because I'm the only one here who's got two working eyes!” she says, rolling said eyes as she finally sits up again.

Leith thinks that might be why they work so well as friends. Each of them has one thing the other two are missing. Estrie has two eyes, Mango has two parents, and Leith has all available seasons of Star Trek: The Next Generation on one highly enchanted VHS.

Leith is clearly the winner here. 

She says so out loud, only for Estrie to say she doesn't know what a Star Trek is as Mango groans in protest, because her muggleborn dads who like Tardigrades and muggle science are almost as Trekkie as Leith. Leith gladly takes this opportunity to convert dear Estrie to the Religion of Data, who is by FAR the greatest fictional character Leith has ever come across. Estrie will admit, she has nothing better to do but listen. 

***

One subject Leith is less fond of is Defense. Remus Lupin is a calm, level headed yet funny sort of man who everyone (except the real posh gits) loves, but he seems to just avoid Leith. She wonders if it's because of something she did? But unless he's just annoyed a fourteen year old knew almost as much about Dementors as he did, she can't think of anything else. At least she can handle a professor who seemed slightly nervous around her. Better to be nervous and competent than panicked and… whatever the hell Quirrell was. Or whatever Lockheart was.  _ Eugh _ . 

Leith thinks she's very lucky she's a wicked note taker, cause she doesn't really want to have to go up and  _ ask _ Professor Lupin for anything she might struggle with. 

(Secretly, although he's quite ashamed of it, Remus thinks he's rather lucky for the very same reason)

***

When Halloween comes around Estrie isn't impressed that she's the only one going to Hogsmeade.

“You couldn't get a migraine  _ tomorrow? _ ” she asks Mango, who is doing her best impression of a Dementor with the hood of her robes pulled firmly over her eyes.

“Sorry.” she mutters into the table.

Estrie turns. “What about you Leith? You've been there tons of times, why not now?” 

Leith offers an apologetic grin. “Too busy on the first weekend. Every man and his krup will be there. Besides, someone's gotta keep an eye on Mango.” 

Estrie sighs. “Fair enough. I hope you feel better soon Mango.”

Mango, who has her hands pressed firmly onto her eyes in an attempt to squash the migraine out, grunts out “Bring me back Chocoballs” as a goodbye.

***

Leith drapes a scarf over Mango’s eyes as the two of them lounge at a relatively empty section of lake edge. This is a system that's almost always worked for the migraines not quite worthy of Madam Pomfrey’s attention, because the ideal dark bedroom to sleep in for several hours isn't as achievable when you share it with multiple girls. 

So instead Mango naps outside, with cover on her eyes and a friend to keep vigil. Some may ask “but Leith, don't you get bored?” and the answer is yes. But that's why she brings a book. House-Elves & Self-Hatred isn't going to finish itself!

(Mango always got migraines. Ever since the accident her brain would just… hurt sometimes. It was awful. She's in too much pain to articulate it further than “awful.” It's nice, though. To lie there next to a friend and hear the pages of a book being turned. It means a lot that even like this her friends still care. It's the joy of misfits. Your weirdness is hardly worse than theirs, so who are they to judge?) 

Leith reads and Mango falls in and out of sleep for quite some time before something interesting happens. It starts to happen when Mango starts to feel particularly chatty. They're talking about some nonsense when Leith sees the dog.

“Mango, I can see a dog.” she provides, for the girl still has her eyes covered.

It's big, and black, and hasn't seemed to notice them. It kinda looks like a Grim.

“Holy shit, Mango it kinda looks like a Grim.” says Leith.

At this Mango looks up and lifts the scarf off one eye.

When she rests her head again all she says is “Nah.” 

“How can you be so sure?” Leith asks.

“Aura’s too pretty to be a death omen.”

Well, if it isn't a sign of impending doom Leith is going to pet the  _ shit _ out of that dog. That being said, she might have tried to do that to a death omen too. 

“Leith, are you about to go p-” “I am about to pet that dog.”

The dog seems a little skittish when it realises she's approaching, which is probably normal for a dog running around unattended. She crouches low cause that's how you make yourself less intimidating, Maeve taught her that years ago. It looks at her and turns its head to the side . It sniffs the air once, twice, three times, then starts  _ bounding _ towards her. 

_ It seems playful? _ She thinks hopefully before the dog nearly crashes into her extended hand, which it's now sniffing enthusiastically. 

“It likes me Mango!” she giggles as it circles her, probably figuring out what she ate for breakfast.

(Sirius is absolutely _ shocked _ ,  _ thrilled _ , and _ slightly overwhelmed _ to find out his daughter- he has a DAUGHTER? Why ELSE would this girl smell somewhere between a girlfriend he had when he was nineteen and HIM?- has eaten a RATHER CONCERNING AMOUNT OF SCONES AND APRICOT JAM IN THE LAST 12 HOURS)

Leith is blissfully unaware of the crisis he is going through. She's just happy to pat a dog.

Mango sits up and he goes over to her for a much calmer sniff (and is delighted to get a chin scratch, these kids know how to treat a dog) before going back to Leith. They sit down and spend a good few minutes stroking the excited canine. They both giggle when they hear the dogs stomach grumble.

“You poor thing, are you a hungry doggy?” Leith coos. The dog wags its tail in what they assume is confirmation.

“We could sneak it into the kitchens?.” Mango suggests. 

“Merlin, how are we going to sneak a dog in?”

“How hard can it be? It's a dog, not Sirius Black.”

Sirius wonders if it's easy to tell that made him laugh. 

Sneaking the dog in is easy enough, nobody seems to be paying attention to them and the dog is clever enough to stop when it must smell people approaching. They quickly reach the kitchens, a place Mango has long been familiar with due to a history of missing meals while in a bout of migraine induced nausea. Mango goes in first, to ask the elves “hey is it okay if my friend brings a nice but quite messy stray dog in here” because the last thing either of them want to do is antagonise the staff. 

After a minute of Leith absentmindedly scratching behind the dog's ears (at this rate if she doesn't stop getting attached she may have to name this thing soon. She hopes it won't mind something particularly Arthurian) Mango returns and beckons them in. Wizard and dog are quickly escorted to a table by a very chubby house elf, who presents them with three plates of scrambled eggs and flushes when Mango thanks her. 

“Bogsy is happy to help miss Potts! Bogsy knows many good foods for stray dogs, she is feeding them often at her old job!” the elf smiles. 

“Thank you very much Bogsy! It means a lot to us.” Leith says.

The elf flushes again, and shrieks when the dog licks her hand. (seriously, Leith is sick of calling it The Dog and at this rate if the dog isn't forcibly removed from her company she is  _ going _ to name it. She thinks Pellinore suits it quite well.) 

“What do we do with this dog?” she asks Mango.

“Unless you think you can convince your dorm it's just a very sick cat I have no idea.” she replies. The dog sneezes. 

(Sirius hopes they think that snort of laughter was just a sneeze.)

They discuss the possibilities as they eat, with Pellinore contributing his opinions with the occasional content-sounding woof. He can't stay with Leith, she's already brought one giant animal into the mix and she wouldn't be able to hide a second. He can't stay with Mango because Millicent Bullstrode’s cat would despise him.

(“Tiffles is ruthless. He would tear him apart.” Mango says. She turns and looks the dog in the eyes and says, with an air of finality, “Tiffles would tear you apart.”)

Which leaves two options:

Option One: Ask Estrie very,  _ very _ nicely to help take care of Pellinore and hope she’s in a good mood.

Option Two: Ask  _ Hagrid _ very very nicely. Hagrid, who already has to deal with so much right now without a new dog being added into the mix. 

“We should try Estrie first.” Leith decides.

Mango lets out a short laugh “Well,  _ you _ can ask her. I'm going to the hospital wing to sleep for another eight hours. See you later.” 

Thanking and handing her plate to a different house elf, Mango leaves. Leith gives the rest of her scrambled eggs to Pellinore.

“I'm going to call you Pellinore.” she informs him.

Pellinore, who really doesn't have a say in the matter, thumps his tail on the ground. When he's finished both helpings of food Leith stands up.

“Well then my dear chap, we best be off.” 

Putting her newfound knowledge of house elf culture into good use, she hands the dishes to another elf cleaning plates and thanks it (Which is about ninety percent of what the book says about house elves. Literally just be nice to them. What the fuck.) and leaves the kitchen. She walks with Pellinore plodding alongside her for quite a way until after turning a corner she realises he is nowhere to be seen, and when retracing her steps he isn't there either.

Shit. There's a stray dog running around the castle. Leith hopes it found either the way outside again, or someone willing to help it.

It's only 11am. What the hell is she supposed to do with the rest of her day?

***

Help first years study, it turns out. She finds them in the library after returning House Elves & Self Hatred, or more accurately they find her.

“Uhm, Leith?” Audrey asks very quietly.

“Yeah? Are you here to take me up on my notes offer?” she asks. 

Audrey nods so vigorously her massive glasses look at risk of falling off. 

She reaches the table where Audrey, Derek, Sloane, and neat little Gryffindor who introduces herself as Praveena are sitting. 

“Alright. Where are we in terms of notes needed?” she asks.

“We're supposed to be doing assignments about the origins of magic, but… Professor Binns didn't really tell us much about it.” Sloane says.

Leith brightens at this. She still remembers the books she got her notes from.

“Terrific! I barely even need notes for that. All you really need to remember right now are the three main theories: the Uno Mas theory, the Great Migration Theory, and the Hocus Pocus theory.” 

She leaves those littleuns thoroughly infodumped, and promises to meet them there tomorrow to hand over a copy of her old notes. Praveena, who wasn't sure what to make of her at first, thanks her profusely and Derek even gives her a hug.

_ First years are wonderful, _ Leith thinks.  _ No wonder Charlie liked me. I've never had such a captive audience.  _

***

Some time later Leith is wandering aimlessly when she sees Harry. Which is delightful, because now she has someone to bother. 

“Harry!” she calls out, and he looks up with a questioning look.

“You aren't at Hogsmeade?” he asks

“Merlin no, Harry. It's insane on the first weekend. Besides, I've been there enough times growing up. My aunt renovated a place there that she rents out to people.” she says, falling into step with the boy. “What about you? You look like you're pondering.”

He furrows his eyebrows. “I think I just saw Snape poison Professor Lupin.” 

Now Leith is frowning too. “A bold accusation. Why's that?” 

He tells her as much as he can about the steaming goblet Snape gave to the new Professor, but she can't think of any poisons that match the description.

“Maybe he did just give Lupin a potion to help him. I mean, Snape knows they can hardly give us a Defense teacher who murdered the old one to get the job, can they?” Leith asks.

“I hope not. It would be sad if the first decent professor in years was poisoned.” Harry grins

“Oh man, you say that and you never even had Professor Crabapple.” she groans.

“Who's that?”

She explains, “Defense teacher in my first year. She was a nightmare. I don't even know how she got the job, she was one of those types that was only teaching ‘cause she couldn't get a job doing anything else. I think she was ticked off she wasn't an Auror and took it out on annoying kids.” 

Harry winces sympathetically. As he should, Crabapple was a Certified Nightmare. 

“Wait,” he begins, “If Snape  _ has _ poisoned Professor Lupin, what are we supposed to do?”

Now, Leith ponders. “Well. Tell Dumbledore I assume. My aunt knows a lot about potions. She's got a mail-order apothecary going on, I could ask her if she knows the potion based on what you saw?” 

Harry nods. “I guess that's all we can do, for now?”

“Yeah, for now.” she agrees.

They make small talk for a bit, and Leith once again feels like she should tell him about who her father is. She hasn't even told Estrie or Mango, and Merlin knows she wants to tell them  _ desperately. _ Leith thinks for a moment, and decides she's going for it. 

“Hey Harry. There's something pretty important I've been meaning to say.” she sighs.

“Been hearing that a lot, lately.” says Harry.

“I can imagine.” and she can, really.

Leith figures ripping the proverbial plaster off is the best bet, but she knows he needs context first.

“How much do you know? About Sirius Black?” she prompts. She doesn't want to repeat things he already knows.

“That he's Voldemort’s second in command, and he's after me?” Harry replies looking mildly confused. 

And that's  _ it? _ “Merlin’s wrinkly  _ bollocks _ ,” she exclaims, “People don't really like giving you full context do they?”

“...What is it?” he asks.

“I don't know the full story, but like. Black wasn't a… visibly evil guy at Hogwarts. My aunt called him charismatic, even.” Merlin, does she really have to be the one to tell him this? 

“Okay.” Harry says, in a how-is-this-relevant-to-me voice.

“He was James Potter’s best friend.” she says. The look of dawning… whatever it is that's dawning on Harry isn't pleasant.

“Why hasn't anyone else told me that?” he asks, angry but not at her.

“Adults get this stupid idea that keeping secrets is going to keep us safer. They're usually wrong.” 

“That's why everyone thinks I'm going after him, isn't it? Really helpful of them, to tell me not to go after him and not even tell me  _ why _ .” he seethes.

“There's something else, Harry.” she says. He looks at her and his green eyes look like fire. “Apparently he's my father?” she says as if it's a question.

“ _ What? _ ” he asks.

“Yeah, my aunt decided  _ that _ was a good thing to lump on me before the start of term.” 

“ _ Merlin’s wrinkly bollocks. _ ” Harry says.

Leith snorts. “Merlin's wrinkly bollocks indeed.” 

They talk a little longer, but Leith knows she's given him a lot of crap to think about.

She leaves, and spends the rest of the day in the Ravenclaw common room until the Halloween Feast. 

As per usual the feast is extravagant, delicious, and thoroughly draining. 

Leith is completely ready to fall the hell asleep and is in her pajamas. She's just plopped her prosthetic eye into a glass (this one is purple) to soak overnight when Marietta bangs on the bathroom door. “Flitwick wants us all in the common room.” 

Galahad steps off her bed and walks with them down the stairs. Leith feels marginally less rueful about everyone seeing her in her froggy pajamas (and cat slippers, and fluffy blue dressing gown,  _ she likes to be cozy alright? _ ) when she sees she's far from the only one with embarrassing pajamas. It's mostly first and second years, but she  _ swears _ she sees her fellow beater Hazel Stickney in some excellent quidditch pajamas. 

Here, dear readers, is a prime example as to how a quite pleasant day can turn very sour, very fast. For out of all the words Professor Flitwick could have had to say Leith was not at all expecting this:

“Settle down everyone! I ask that you all remain calm. Everyone please follow myself or a Prefect down to the Great Hall. Sirius Black has been spotted trying to enter Gryffindor Tower, and all students must stay in the Great Hall while my fellow teachers and I search the rest of the school for his location!”

There is but one word Leith knows to describe the way she is feeling:  _ Fuck _ .

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> rogmonde is my hogwarts mobile mystery character!!! i love her i accidentally made her kind of a sirius black parallel. dog animagus with a gay little crush on a werewolf (remus in sirius's case, chiara in my character's case) (this fic is probably going to contain wolfstar, i just didnt want to tag it so early on yet)

**Author's Note:**

> i wrote the prologue and first two and a half chapters of this basically a year ago in one massive turbo blast of hyperfixation. ill be attempting to complete at LEAST a rewrite of prisoner of azkabans canon, because its pretty much my favourite hp book. that being said i do have a vague outline of where the plot would go. not everything will be changed with the existence of the strongbark family, but a decent chunk of canon is now being turgled in the washing machine that is my google docs and 500 open tabs of the hp lexicon


End file.
